The Australian had intended to take a sabbatical for the first part of last season following a tumultuous two-year stint with McLaren.

However, he was thrust back into competition for the Hungarian Grand Prix instead of Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri (as it was then known), only to break his hand at the Dutch Grand Prix two races later.

With the prospect of a full season with RB now ahead of him, Ricciardo is eager to refire his career.

“I do feel that this is like the start of the second part of my career,” he admitted.

“Having some time off gives you a new perspective. I’m putting a lot of focus into what is a second opportunity for me, but at the same time, it’s not putting pressure on myself.

“I’m hungry and motivated without any negative weight on my shoulders or stress attached to it, to interfere with my life.”

The RB was something of a surprise performer during pre-season testing after looking composed from the moment it hit the track.

That sparked suggestions the Faenza operation could prove more competitive than first through.

It’s a notion Ricciardo has worked to play down, as has his new boss, Laurent Mekies.

“It’s natural for a new car to be an improvement on the previous one, but what counts is where we stand compared to everyone else,” Ricciardo said.

“Have we improved more than them or have they improved more than us?

“It does feel better, but you’re only as good as your competition lets you be.

“I’ve stayed in Bahrain since the test, and with the engineers we’ve spent a lot of hours studying all the data from the three days on track, so we know what we want to do as soon as we hit the track for Free Practice.”

RB has had its off-track team strengthened with the arrival of Nick Roberts on the strategy side, and Guiliame Catellame as deputy technical director, both moving across from Red Bull Racing.

Exactly where the squad stacks up will begin to properly reveal itself on Thursday, when cars hit track for opening practice.

“I like Bahrain, it’s a nice track and a good place to start the season,” Ricciardo said.

“It’s pretty challenging, especially on the rear tyres as the track is very rough. I’ve had some good moments there, never on the podium, but I’ve scored plenty of points.

“Of course, there’s something special about the first race of the season. When you haven’t raced for a few months, it feels a bit more intense,” he added.

“You can spend time in the simulator driving the track, but you can’t practice racing intensely, wheel to wheel with 19 of the best guys in the world, and that makes for a pretty exciting feeling at the first race of the year.”

Free Practice 1 begins on Thursday at 14:30 local time, 22:30 AEDT.